Money in a Minute: Headlines for March 9, 2011

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GOODS: Low, low prices: Target beats Wal-Mart

Target’s becoming more competitive with America’s No. 1 retailer, a new study shows. “Wal-Mart typically maintains a 2% to 4% price advantage over Target,” but that changed in January and February, CNN Money reports.

COUPONS: LivingSocial’s $10,000 Fairmont coupon signals upscale shift on deal sites

Rich people like coupons too, apparently – and major discount sites like Groupon and LivingSocial are ready to deal. The biggest deal to date: half off “a one-night stay at the [Fairmont] hotel’s 6,000 square-foot penthouse and a one-day rental of a Maserati Quattroporte,” which 115 bought into, Bloomberg reports.

PHONES: Sprint calls up T-Mobile

Negotiations are underway for a possible merger of the third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers in the U.S. No rush, though: “The people familiar with the matter described the talks as preliminary and said there are a number of hurdles that make a quick deal unlikely,” The Wall Street Journal reports.

CARS: Honda, Toyota and Chrysler issue recalls

Automakers are finding faults everywhere, recalling a total of 77,000 vehicles so far this week. Honda’s recall includes “2006-2007 model year Civic hybrids,” Toyota’s the “2008-2011 Toyota FJ Cruiser, Land Cruiser, Sequoia, Tacoma and Tundra,” and Chrysler’s “Jeep recall covers Wranglers from the 2010-2011 model years,” MSNBC reports.

TECH: Warner Bros., Facebook unveil streaming movie service

If there aren’t enough ways to watch your favorite flicks, Facebook’s got another. It’s teaming up with Warner Bros. to stream features for $3 a pop. Users retain “full Facebook functionality while they’re watching the film (just in case someone wants to update their status with “OMG, TOTALLY WATCHING THE DARK KNIGHT ON FACEBOOK RIGHT NOW”),” PCWorld reports.

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